A Plentiful Christmas
by tmtcltb
Summary: A holiday shopping trip is full of surprises.


_A Plentiful Christmas_

 _x_

Danny managed to grab Frankie just before he toppled over the display of brightly colored ponies.

"Mine!" Frankie screamed, grabbing at the pink, purple, and yellow horses.

Sighing, Danny managed to grab the toddler's hands once again, saving himself from spending ten minutes restacking the toys. "Frankie, what's the rule?"

Frankie's face crumbled. "Toy at end, if Frankie is good."

Danny smiled encouragingly, hoping that bribery would work where threats to behave hadn't. "That's right. Once we're done shopping, you get a present. But only if you are good."

Throwing the toddler onto his shoulders, Danny made his way back to the front of the PX where Mike Slattery stood with his girls, twelve-year-old Shaylyn and fifteen-year-old Whitney, who was holding Kaito, the family having made it all of ten feet into the store before they were distracted by some display or other. Wolf Taylor and Carlton Burk, who had come along to help wrangle the kids but so far had done nothing helpful, were laughing at Frankie's antics. Thankfully Eric Miller seemed to be taking his responsibilities more seriously, one hand on each of Javier Cruz's nephews. Ray Diaz had disappeared, no doubt tracking down his horde, who scattered the moment they entered the store.

Shaking his head, Danny directed his question at Mike. "What's the point of doing this again?"

"To let Frankie pick out a gift for Kara," Whitney explained before making a beeline for a small makeup display.

"I already picked something out for her," Danny groused.

"Pretty sure she's going to know that Frankie didn't choose the Glock 45," Burk said with a snort.

"Or, if she does, you are going to be in deep shi...doo-doo for letting the kid near a firearm," Wolf added.

"She asked for it!" Danny replied defensively, before adding. "Besides, that's not all I got her."

Chocolate might be the most stereotypical gift ever but, given the food crisis, it was also almost impossible to find. While rust resistant crops were now being harvested, easing the food shortages, cocoa beans were not high on the government's priority list.

"Way TMI!" Wolf laughed as Burk pretended to stuff his fingers in his ears.

"You two need to grow up," Danny retorted, before adding pointedly. "Aren't you supposed to be helping Manny and Raul?"

Taking the cue, Erik looked down at the boys. "What do you think your mother would like for Christmas?"

"I think Mama would like a new sweater," Manny, Cruz's eight-year-old nephew pipped up.

"Or a necklace. Uncle Javi always bought Mama jewelry," Raul added quietly.

Kicking his brother in a manner that he must have thought was discrete, Manny hissed, "Jewelry is expensive, stupid. We only have thirteen dollars."

Carlton straightened, giving Manny his best no-nonsense look. "No name calling."

It worked as well on the child as it did on unruly sailors, resulting in an immediate downcast face. "Yes, sir."

Allowing his face to relax, Carlton leaned closer. "I'll teach you guys a trick. Bet if we're _really_ nice to the lady behind the jewelry counter, she'll give us a discount."

"Really?" Raul breathed.

"Cross my heart," Carlton replied, doing so as he spoke. "Come on, I'll show you."

Wolf winked at Mike and Danny before turning to follow the now wide-eyed boys towards the jewelry counter. Even with Javi's death benefits, they all knew that money was tight for Maria. The least that they could do was chip in to help the boys get her a nice Christmas present.

Danny trailed after Mike, Whitney, and Shaylyn as they made their way through the store. After twenty minutes spent making sure that Frankie didn't get hold of any sharp objects or accidentally take out a rack of snow globes, Danny was ready to call it, baffled at how Mike managed to keep Kaito contained. "Guess I know why Kara hates taking Frankie grocery shopping. This might have been a bad idea. It's not like Frankie is actually going to pick out anything that Kara wants."

"Mom always loves what we pick out," Shaylyn said sincerely, before correcting herself. "Well, except the time we got her a vacuum. She _said_ that she liked it but she didn't. I know because after that Dad didn't let us buy anything from the cleaning department."

Danny didn't try to hide his laughter. "Pretty sure Kara's not going to want a My Little Pony or Transformer any more than Christine wanted a vacuum."

"You might be surprised by what Frankie picks out," Mike replied. At Danny's disbelieving look, he added, "Here, hand him over."

Despite his reluctance to set Frankie down while they were surrounded by glass, Danny did as directed, making sure that Mike had a hand on the child before he let go. Leaning down to look Frankie in the eyes, Mike smiled. "Hey Frankie, we're going to buy Mommy a present for Christmas."

At the mention of the holiday, Frankie perked up. "Santa coming!"

"That's right," Mike continued brightly. "And on Christmas we buy presents for Mommy. What would be a good present for Mommy?"

"Mommy present?" Frankie simply looked confused. Shaking his head, Danny was about to tell Mike to let it go, when Frankie's face suddenly brightened. "Mommy want baby girl!"

Raising one eyebrow, Mike looked up at Danny before asking, just as Carlton, Wolf, Eric, Manny, and Raul rounded the corner of the aisle, "Did you knock up my best TAO _again_ , Green?"

Danny suspected that his face was bright red under the scruff that he hadn't bothered shaving since he was officially still on medical leave. "We just found out. Kara planned to tell you after the holidays."

Thankfully Mike didn't seem upset. "Congratulations! Three years apart? That's a good age range. The girls are three years apart." A shadow passed over Mike's face, the one that always appeared when he was thinking about Lucas.

"Now we know what Green was doing while he was supposed to be _recovering_ ," Carlton noted, interjecting some much needed levity into the conversation.

"Working on Operation Repopulation," Wolf joked.

Letting that one go - if anything, the six month recovery period delayed their plans to add to their family, although the timing ended up working out well given f the food crisis - Danny smirked at Wolf. "Anyone want to bet that Wolf and Azima are next?"

"I'll take that."

Everyone, including Mike, turned to Whitney in surprise. Frankly, Danny had almost forgotten that the girl was there. She held out her hand. Taking it, Danny shook. "We have a deal."

She grinned devilishly. "Good, now you owe me $20."

"What? Who..." Danny's voice trailed off, noting the stunned looks on Carlton, Wolf, and Erik's faces. None of them, then, and Kara would know within minutes if Kat was pregnant. Which only left...

Mike grinned diabolically. ""Just think, Green, our kids might get married someday. That would mean we're related."

Whistling, he sauntered after his daughters, leaving four stunned men behind. Finally Carlton turned to Danny.

"You, my man, are totally screwed."

 _x_

 _x_

 _A/N - Merry Christmas to those who celebrate and Happy New Year to all! I'm looking forward to many more TLS stories in 2018._


End file.
